2012 Presidential Election: A Mountain of Dollars

More than two billion dollars. The 2012 election campaign broke the record of contributions. And in these [next few] days, millions of dollars will be invested in ads to be aired in swing states.

What would you do if you had $8.5 million per day to be spent in two weeks to “buy” (Time magazine used this expression a couple of months ago) the White House? Mitt Romney and the Republicans know how to invest that mountain of money: commercials, commercials, commercials and more commercials in the swing states. Further, rallies, tours by bus and by plane for the tightest door to door search for votes ever in the history of American elections.

It has always been clear that this was a record fundraising campaign. The last few days have certainly not disappointed the trend of recent months: On Oct. 17 the Republican candidate ended up with $169 million in cash to be spent, almost $10 million per day. Barack Obama’s portfolio is no joke either, but it is less fat than his rival’s: $99 million in cash at the end of September.

The New York Times did a global count of what is (was) the great river of money that has fueled the election campaign for the last year. The first surprise is that Obama and the Democrats raised a little more than Mitt Romney; $1.06 billion for the president, $954 million for his opponent. In the end, the sum is nearly $2 billion — what Time magazine had predicted would be the total amount collected by Republicans and Democrats in this race for the presidency.

A mountain of money that — Time magazine wrote in the issue with the White House for sale cover — was (is) able to affect even American democracy’s mechanisms.

The New York newspaper also explained the sources the two candidates have drawn from. It’s a well-known fact that Wall Street financed Mitt Romney. The United States’ financial center paid tens of millions dollars, which, added to the millionaire donations given by individuals (industrialists and managers), led to a record of $954 million.

Compared to 2008, insurance companies, law firms, and medical and real estate companies gave less money to Barack Obama. On the other hand, he had substantial funding from Silicon Valley and the technology industry. Even retirees bet their chips on Obama. Most of the millions of dollars raised by the president came through small donations (no more than $200) to his election committees (not the Super PACs, which can collect all the money they want). About 4,200,000 Americans (a million more than four years ago) have donated in this way to Obama’s electoral machine.

In these recent days, the millions of dollars available for candidates are key to the race’s final outcome. Commercials will try to convince undecided voters. A mountain of dollars for a fistful of votes.